Seal.



L. S. FLATAU.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Mbast mgwwlg I LOUIS S. FLATAU, 0F S T.' LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent. P tented Apr. 27, 1915.

Application filed Detober s, 1914. Serial no. 864,756.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that'I, LOUIS S. FLATAU, a citizen of the United States of America, a resident of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a seal, particularly adapted to seal the fastening devices of car doors, but it may be used as a sealing device for looks and latches of various different kinds, or, if desired, the new seal may.

' bodying the features of my invention. Fig.

II is a view similar to Fig. I, illustrating a seal provided with an identification section adapted to be removed from the sealing elements. Fig. III is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing one end of the sheet metal connecting member and the shackle adapted to be secured to said connecting member. Fig. IV is a side elevation showing the connecting member crimped and folded with the shackle to firmly connect the ends of the shackle.

1 designates a shackle, and 2 designates a connecting member for uniting the end portions of the shackle. The shackle is preferably a wire and the connecting member is preferably a thin, flexible strip of sheet metal having its longitudinal margins curled, as shown most clearly in Fig. III, to produce a pair of passageways 3 and 4 for the reception of the ends of the shackle. One end of the shackle is arranged within the passageway 4: and it may be secured by crimping the connecting member with the shackle, as indicated at 5 Fig. I.

In the practical use of my seal, the free end portion of the shackle is passed through the article to be sealed and thereafter in serted into the passageway 3 at one of the margins of the connecting member 2. To secure the shackle in the passageway 3 the metal forming said passageway may be crimped with the shackle, as shown at 6 in Fig. IV, or, if desired, the connecting member may be folded by hand to produce a crimp 7 Fig. IV. In crimping or folding the sheet metal connecting member with the shackle, the distorted or mutilated metal of these flexible elements produces a very firm connection, well adapted to resist attempts to open the shackle without breaking the seal, and owing to the flexibility of the mutilated elements, attempts to straighten them will usually be indicated by additional bends or crimps which more firmly unite the connecting member with the shackle.

In Fig. II I have shown a connecting member Q provided with a seal section 8 and an identification section 9 adapted to be broken from the seal section 8. The connecting member 2 is preferably weakened by a transverse slot 10 formed between the seal section 8 andthe identification section 9 so that the identification section 9 may be readily broken from the seal section at the transverse slot 10. Obviously, these sections may be separated from each other by a cutting device or they may be broken apart by bending the connecting member 2 several times to fracture the metal adjacent to the end of slot 10. The shackle 1, shown in Fig. II, is adapted to be inserted into the seal section 8 and thereafter crimped with said seal section, as previously pointed out, and the identification section 9, broken from the seal section, may be used as evidence of ownership of the sealed property. The thin, flexible connecting member is preferably provided with an aperture 11 for the reception of a wire or string upon which a number of the sealing devices may be strung. This aperture or perforation 11 is formed at the end opposite to the shackle receiving end of the connecting member, so that the wire shackles will extend downwardly and away from the string which serves as a carrier or holder for the sealing devices.

I claim A seal comprising a connecting member and a wire shackle associated therewith, the said connecting member bein a long narrow strip of sheet metal having 1ts longitudinal margins curled to provide passageways for the reception of said shackle, the, curled a crimp 7 wherein the other end of the sheet metal forming one of said passage- Shackle is secured. ways being primarily crimped with oneend of the shackle so as to permanently secure LOUIS FLATAU' only one end of the shackle to said sheet In the presence of metal, and the said long narrow stripof,v E. K. CLARK,

sheet metal being folded on itself to produce A. J. MGOAULEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

